Mission statement

At Pachacuti we are committed to creating a successful, contemporary fashion and accessories business built on the foundation of fair trade. As we develop and design contemporary collections, seeking new markets, we stand committed to our Latin American producers by establishing long term relationships which respect their cultural heritage through the preservation of their traditional skills.

Fashion first, fair trade always.

Pachacuti means 'world upside-down' in the
Quechua language of the Andean region.

I studied Quechua as part of my MA in Native American Studies and chose the name as it represented the primary aim of my business: to redress the economic balance for the people with whom I trade. I set up Pachacuti to reverse inequitable trading patterns where middlemen and wholesalers make their profits at the expense of the weavers, knitters and embroiderers who use their centuries-old skills to create beautiful, unique products and yet receive poor remuneration.

On my first research trip to Ecuador, I was shocked to see how the trading system favoured affluent intermediaries, even within the local, indigenous market system, with the knitters and knitting co-operatives being put at a financial disadvantage. Two of the community groups with whom I worked on my first buying trips to Ecuador had experienced threats and arson as a result of forming their groups. Workers grouping together to obtain better wages and conditions was a threat to the middlemens' monopoly of the wool trade!

I naively entered into business in 1992 believing that I could help to change this situation. Now, many years later and after many hard lessons learnt, I am proud to visit Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia and see the difference I have made to the lives of so many people, principally women living in deprived rural areas. Over 400 people rely on me as their sole or primary source of income, usually supplemented by income from harvesting crops or keeping a few animals. For a further 300 people, income from Pachacuti makes a significant difference to their livelihoods.

Within these numbers, there are so many individual stories: paying a woman's mortgage to prevent her family being thrown out onto the streets; paying school fees so children can attend school that term; putting money into medical funds so that weavers can receive assistance with medicines, operations and funeral costs; building shelters. The ensuing bonds of trust and friendship go far beyond any normal trading relationship and I feel a very personal responsibility towards my weavers, embroiderers and knitters. I find it very hard visiting my elderly panama hat weavers who I continue to pay for their hats, even though most of them pile up in the storeroom in Ecuador as they would be unsaleable in this country. On my frequent visits , one lady will complain that her roof is leaking, another will show me the bruises on her leg where she keeps falling on the uneven earth floor, as I am seen as the only person who could possibly do anything to improve their situation.

There is so much more that I would love to be able to do for them and their situation inspires me to continue raising awareness of the difference fair trade makes. As Pachacuti grows and our ethically conscious customers continue to support us through purchasing fair trade fashion, so I will be able to address the imbalances of trade and improve the lives of more and more people in the Andean region.

Fashion first, fair trade always.

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